Functions and CALL Routines

DQMATCH Function

Returns a match code from a character value.

Requirement:	The specified locale must be loaded into memory as part of the locale list.
Valid in:	DATA step, PROC SQL, and SCL

Syntax
Arguments
Details
Example
See Also

Syntax

DQMATCH (char, 'match-definition'<,'sensitivity'><, 'locale>')

Arguments

char

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression that contains the value for which a match code is created, according to the specified match definition.

match-definition

specifies the name of the match definition. The definition must exist in the locale that is used.

sensitivity

specifies an integer value that determines the amount of information in the returned match code. Valid values range from 50 to 95. The default value is 85. A higher sensitivity value includes more information in the match code. In general, higher sensitivity values result in a greater number of clusters, with fewer members per cluster, because matches require greater similarity between input values.

locale

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression that contains the locale name.

Default:

The default locale is the first locale in the locale list. If no value is specified, the default locale is used.

Details

The DQMATCH function parses the input character value and creates a match code. The match code represents a condensed version of the character value. The amount of information in the match code is determined by the sensitivity level. For higher sensitivities, two values must be very similar to produce the same match codes. At lower sensitivities, two values produce the same match codes despite their dissimilarities.

Example

The following example returns a match code that contains the maximum amount of information about the input value.

mcName=dqMatch('Dr. Jim Goodnight', 'NAME', 95, 'ENUSA');